End Times
Many religions do indeed have a belief that there will be an end to the world. Islam, for example, says that 12 Imams (teachers) will come to the earth, the last one ushering in peace and harmony and global Islam. 11 of the Imams are believed to have come, and they're waiting on the last one. 'Christianity and the End Times ' The Bible has a great deal of prophecy about the end of the world in the books of Isaiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. People look to Revelation, but often omit Isaiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. *One prophecy about the Israelite people is that the Temple will be destroyed again, and they'll be scattered to the nations of the world. (This prediction was apparently made before the Temple had been destroyed a first time.) In 70 A.D., the Roman Empire overthrew Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple (the second time it had been destroyed, the first coming in 586 B.C. at the hands of the Babylonians), taking many Jewish prisoners to Rome, and scattering the Jewish people. *Another prophecy says that the Jewish nation will be drawn out of the world and Israelas a nation will be re-established in one day. That occurred on May 14, 1948 with the Declaration of the Establishment of Israel and the immediate recognition by the United States of Israel as a sovereign nation. That prophecy also says that when Israel is re-established that we're within a generation of the events to take place at the end of this age. *Daniel predicts a number of kingdoms and nations, one of which is clearly the Roman Empire. He also predicts a re-establishment of the Roman Empire in the end times. The European Union has been established, and its member nations cover much (but not all) of the same land area that the Romans occupied. There are other nations that want to join the EU, and these nations were also occupied by Rome. The prophecy also declares that one man will run this reconstituted Roman Empire. The EU is NOT run by one man, but is led by the leaders of its members. There is talk, however, of the difficulty of governing this way and there exists a movement to create a representative council of leaders with one man as President of the EU. So there are things that definitely seem to indicate that we're close to the end. How far off is the end? No one knows. It could be 30 minutes, or it could be 100 years. See Also... *Revelation 'The Rapture' Scripture says that there will be a rapture. Jesus himself talked about how there would be two people together, and then only one left. The book of 1 Thessalonians gives us a picture of rapture, as well. The thing about the rapture of the church is that it will be explainable in naturalistic terms, and that doing so will give the anti-Christ a good deal of authority and power. 'Mark of the Beast' The "Mark of the Beast" will be something that you have to voluntarily take, that you'll have to pledge allegiance to the political leader that's known as the anti-Christ to receive. You won't accidentally receive that mark (whatever it may be.) 'Related Topics' *Fundamentalist *Predictions *Revelation Category:Dr. Bobisms